Chapter 15
Brightfeather sat in front of the rock at Threepines, accompanied by WoodClan's medicine cat Nightleaf. This was going to, oddly enough, be her first trip to the Moonstone. She was both excited and nervous, knowing that she was going to meet with her ancestors once again.
"We're here!" yowled ValleyClan's medicine cat, Ashcloud, the smoky gray tom from the Gathering. He was closely followed by a younger she-cat, who was almost as big as he was despite her age.
The she-cat was a dark grey tabby with deep, dark green eyes and a scar on her chest. The sight of this apprentice made Brightfeather feel slightly frightened.
"Ah," meowed Nightleaf, getting up. "Hello, Ashcloud, Greypaw. Are you ready to go?"
"Yes, since there's no better time," meowed Ashcloud, already heading away from Threepines. Nightleaf followed him willingly, while Greypaw just stared at Brightfeather for a long moment. When Brightfeather made a move to follow the others, Greypaw quickly turned and followed Nightleaf, with Brightfeather behind her.
The trek to the Moonstone was seemingly long, but not unpleasant. As they walked through the forest, crisp yet damp leaves crunched softly underfoot as the night air gently brushed their fur, seeming to urge them on. Brightfeather could hear Ashcloud and Nightleaf exchange comments every now and again, talking about things Brightfeather couldn't hear from her position in the back. Greypaw, on the other hand, barely even made her paw steps audible, falling in place right behind Ashcloud as if she was his shadow.
"We're almost there," Ashcloud meowed during a long pause of silence, scaring Brightfeather. Noticing it was just Ashcloud, she relaxed a bit. She opened her mouth to respond happily, only to be interrupted with an earsplitting BANG coming from a few fox lengths ahead of the group and the sound of some poor creature making one last noise.
"Eep!" mewed Brightfeather, hiding behind Greypaw who glanced at her with- surprisingly- equal fear and shock before looking forward again at Ashcloud and Nightleaf who had arched their backs and stopped, also terrified.
"Twolegs!" hissed Nightleaf, the sound coming out more as a squeak than a hiss as loud, Twoleg paw steps came in their direction.
"We can't go to the Moonstone now!" hissed Greypaw in frustration. Brightfeather was shocked even more so that Greypaw actually said something. "Let's try it at Threepines!" Before Nightleaf or Ashcloud could reply, Greypaw had wheeled around and was bounding to Threepines with Brightfeather trying to catch up, though with a quick hesitation.